Cossacks district champions
Troopers settle for third
By STU MERRY
It’s been a long time since the Max Cossacks have been able to say they are district boys basketball champions – 29 years in fact.
Monday in Washburn, the drought ended as the Cossacks outlasted Turtle Lake-Mercer-McClusky 49-39 to take the title.
Max, now 16-6, opened against Center-Stanton. Max won big, 56-38, this past Friday. Saturday night, it was a rematch with Washburn. During the season, Max won by one, 41-40 in Max. This game was on the Cardinals’ home court. It didn’t make any difference. Max was on a mission, winning 44-30.
The win set up the title game against Turtle Lake-Mercer-McClusky, a team that surprised No. 1 seed Garrison, 50-47, this past Saturday.
Against the Trojans, Max found a worthy opponent also hungry for a District 10 title. The game was close early, but Max opened it up in the second quarter to lead 20-15 at intermission. Like they did against the Troopers this past Saturday, the Trojans applied the pressure and shot from long range. Max didn’t flinch, prevailing to take the 10-point victory.
The last time Max won the district was 1986. It’s thought the last time Max played in a district title game was 1989.
